James 1:17-27

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  ¹⁸ He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

     ¹⁹ My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.  ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror

²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

²⁵ But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.  ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Dear students of God’s Word,

            Over the last forty to fifty years, considerable research has been done in the area of education, studying how people learn and how best to teach so that learning may take place.  What has been found, which probably isn’t really any surprise, is that we all, being unique individuals learn differently.  Some of us learn best by hearing information presented to us.  We are auditory learners.  But some of us learn better if we not only hear information but also see it.  We are visual learners.  So it can be helpful to have something in front of us that contains the information being shared.  An outline on paper or on a classroom screen is helpful.  Also, pictures or diagrams that convey the information are good.  That is no doubt the reason that our current Catechism book for bible instruction for our youth, put together about twenty-five years ago, includes diagrams that help convey some abstract Bible truths, such as the doctrine of the Trinity.  Still others of us may learn even differently.  We may hear and see the information, yet it is difficult to retain it.  Such an individual might be someone who best learns through some “hands on” interaction with the information.  Science experiments or other “activity projects” often help us receive and retain some information. 

 

            But people have known much longer than the last 50 years that employing a variety of teaching styles is good for learning.  Almost 500 years ago, Martin Luther realized that teacher-student interaction could be more effective than simple talking by the teacher.  So when he wrote a Catechism for Christian instruction he put it in question and answer form.  The thinking is that Pastor, Teacher, Mom or Dad asks young Johann or Margareta a question, such as “What is God’s first commandment?”  The youngster would answer, “You shall have no other gods.”  That is followed up by another question, one every student of Luther’s Catechism knows so well, “What does this mean?”  Luther wrote answers to that question, such as regarding the first commandment, “We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.” 

 

            On our Christian Education Sunday, we take note through our reading from the letter of James, that the recognition that a use of various teaching styles for better learning goes back even beyond Luther.  It’s subtle in our lesson from James, but in it we find

                                                            God’s Teaching Styles.

1.      Audio (listening)

2.      Visual (looking, seeing)

3.      Hands on  (doing)

 

“You’re not listening to me!”  Ever been told that?  Husbands?   Kids?  It seems

something of this nature was going on among 1^st century Christians and was one of the reasons for the letter of James.  His instruction to them early in his letter would indicate that they were talking to each other in cruel ways.  Perhaps they would get into selfish arguments with each other.  It seems some of them could have been taking offense at what another said, got angry and flew off the handle, even though what was originally said wasn’t intended to offend.  Or it may have been that someone might share an opinion with someone who let it “go in one ear and out the other” and immediately responded without giving a moment’s thought to what the other person had said.  James’ instruction was, “Everyone should be QUICK TO LISTEN, SLOW TO SPEAK AND SLOW TO BECOME ANGRY.”

 

            Listening is one of the ways we learn.  It’s how we learn about our world and how things work.  Listening, really listening, is how we learn about each other.  It’s how we learn about ourselves!  And listening is how we learn about our God.  Poor listening skills result in bad situations, don’t we all know.  You may know the frustrations that result from husband and wife not truly listening to each other.  You may know the turmoil created when children fail to listen to parents; or the other way around, too.  You may have experienced the tension when students don’t listen to teachers or the frustration when teachers don’t listen to students.  Parents and teachers not listening to each other also results in difficult circumstances.  Failure to listen before we speak – and that means pondering, chewing on what has been said to us, not just hearing the sounds of the words – is no doubt one of the chief causes of conflict between people.  So James said it often and loud, “LISTEN TO EACH OTHER!”

 

            These early Christians’ failures to listen to each other were a symptom of another failure to listen.  In not listening to each other, they above all were not listening to God.  When we don’t listen to each other, but rudely and angrily spit hateful and accusing words, we haven’t been listening to God.  I guess we aren’t “religious”.  At the end of our section James wrote, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless” (v. 26).  How can not listening to a fellow Christian, or considering his or her words valueless be in keeping with what God tells us?  Our Lord Jesus has summed up the second part of God’s commandments for us with the words, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

 

            It was our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, who listened perfectly to God and to others for us.  In our gospel reading today (Mark 7), Jesus listened to the question of the Pharisees.  He considered it and then responded to it.  His answer was sharp, but intended to teach and to save.  Jesus, in our place, listened to the false accusations thrown at him as he stood before the Caiaphas the High Priest.  He evaluated what he heard and then respectfully responded.  And sometimes, like before King Herod and his mockery, Jesus listened and then said nothing.  All this listening to other people Jesus did in our place, because we so often have tuned out what someone else has to say or we have not even taken 5 seconds to consider it before we lash out at them.  For all our failures to listen, Jesus did some more listening for us.  While on the cross, in our place he listened to the Father say what he should say to us:  “Away from me forever, you sinner!”  And when Jesus had endured the punishment for our sin, he then heard the Father also say, “Well done!  Take back your life!”  And with his resurrection Jesus announces to us the greatest news we will ever hear:  “Because I live, you too will live!”

 

            These truths our God wants us to learn, so he employs a teaching style that works hand in hand with listening:  Seeing (visual learning).  James spoke about seeing things as well as hearing them.  In this instance he pointed out that not listening to God’s word (hearing and putting into practice) “is like a man who LOOKS at his face in the mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who LOOKS intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does” (v. 23).  Much learning occurs by looking at things.  It’s highly unlikely that we would look at our image in a mirror and forget that it’s me.  So, how could we look into the perfect word of God and not see its importance and put it into practice?  How could we search that word during an hour of worship or Bible study, then five minutes later behave totally contrary to what we saw in the word? 

 

            To help us learn what God wants us to believe and do, he has filled his word with pictures for us to look at.  On every page is a picture of the believers of old, many of them falling into sin, called to repentance, forgiven and living guided by the perfect law of God.  From cover to cover God’s word shows us Jesus, the Son of God, living, dying, rising from death to give us life eternal.  Every one of these pictures helps us to look at ourselves, to see ourselves as God sees us – sinful and in need of rescue; and rescued by the life and death of his Son.  The lives of those Old Testament believers recorded in Scripture for us are pictures helping us see how blessed are those who live in trust and obedience of his word. 

 

            That last thought leads to the third style of teaching God employs to teach us:  Doing (hands on).  A major reason behind the writing of the letter of James was that those first century Christians had forgotten some of what they had learned.  They had earlier learned about their sin before God that calls down on them God’s anger and punishment.  They had earlier learned – they had heard and seen it in the word – that Jesus, God’s Son had lived sinlessly for them and head taken their punishment of death so that they would live in heaven.  These lessons they apparently remembered.  But the lessons they had forgotten were those that told and showed them that the forgiven child of God thankfully and joyously lives now as if in heaven, gladly guided by God’s commandments.  They had instead adopted the attitude that if Jesus forgives my sins, it’s no big deal if I sin; I’ll ask for forgiveness and everything will be fine.  They began to, as James put it, “pollute themselves” with immoral behavior that they had observed in their culture and society. 

 

            James taught them this lesson again.  Perhaps the best known statement from the letter of James is “Faith without deeds (works) is dead” (2:26).  His readers may have had knowledge of what Jesus had done for them and maybe even trusted that they had forgiveness leading to eternal life.  But this “faith” wasn’t really saving faith because it didn’t do the things saving faith does.  Saving faith in Jesus does things; acts on what is believed – that God’s word is true and right and therefore the only right guidance for my life.    In verse 27 James said, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

 

            The learning by doing that our God wants to accomplish in us is that we learn how blessed life is when guided by his word.  And we do learn that.  In the end we will learn by experience that God’s plan of forgiveness and rescue is the only way of eternal life.  But even now we learn how blessed his ways are in doing them.  By doing what James instructs in this letter the child of God will find blessings.  Perhaps you’ve already learned by doing.  Perhaps you’ve learned how much more peaceful your home is when everyone truly listens to each other and thinks before they speak.  How much better troubles get ironed out when we listen to a family member or friend call us to repent of a particular sin, when we confess it and when it is forgiven.  We learn the blessings of joy and satisfaction when we look outside ourselves and our own little worlds to the needs of others, perhaps able in some small way to help them in their need.  What great joy and satisfaction our Savior gives when we dispense the greatest gift we can give, that life-giving message of his mercy and grace.  There are other things we learn by doing his will.  We learn the joys and blessings of family life where moms and dads together lead children in the paths of the Savior.  We learn that this life, though filled with struggles because of sin, can have its share of joys.  Guided by that “perfect law that gives freedom” your life can avoid many of the struggles we bring on ourselves through sexual sin, greed, disrespect of authority, and so on.  God grants those blessings.  They become positive lessons.

 

            These, then, are God’s teaching styles by which we learn of his goodness and love.  This is the teaching involved in Christian education here in the educational programs of our congregation and, we pray, in our Christian homes.  May we all, in our homes and often here together listen to…see…and do what our Savior teaches.